Click to play videoMumbai: Laxmi Prasad used to serve meals to Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan on the sets of Mr Natwarlal. He poured out cutting chai for Shah Rukh Khan on the sets of Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and made sure that no one disturbed Salman Khan while he shot for God Tussi Great Ho.
Prasad is one of Bollywood's most-wanted spotboys since 1978. But today he is not at work as he is on an indefinite strike called by The Federation of Western India Cine Employees of which he is a part of.
"I worked on this film called Mehbooba which got completed in 2001. The producer had to give around Rs 45,000 to four spotboys but he didn't. The film also didn't do well so we didn't ask for the money after that," says he.
Accumulated unpaid dues and low wages are on top of the striking worker's agenda.
The television industry has been the worst hit - with no shoots for two days now, the production schedule of daily soaps has come to a standstill.
Ironically the strike comes at a time when Bollywood is cash rich due to corporatisation and expanding markets.
"Producers don't pay us on time and they don't pay us the right amount," says Laxmi Prasad.
So while Akshay Kumar's new film with UTV reportedly fetches him Rs 70 crore, the lower rung of film workers like Laxmi Prasad are still waiting for the Bollywood boom to trickle down to them.
Actors might be the face and the selling point of a film but it's people like laxmi Prasad who make films happen. He says that he is happy if Akshay Kumar is paid Rs 70 crore for a film but all he wants is Rs 500 at the end of an eight-hour shift. For a growing industry like Bollywood, that shouldn't be much.
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